The Enemy of My Enemy
by Settiai
Summary: Evelyn couldn't help but wonder what the Doctor wasn't telling her.


Evelyn Smythe looked up from the screen she had been studying for the past ten minutes, grimacing slightly at the twinge in her back she felt as she straightened her posture. She stretched, letting her gaze drift over the crowded room for a moment before focusing on the dark-haired man standing on the opposite side. He was leaning over a console identical to her own, his brow furrowing as he stared at it. The expression was a surprisingly familiar one; she had seen it on the Doctor's face at least a hundred times during her travels with him.

After a second or two, she shook her head and turned back towards her own console. She didn't understand half of what the text on the screen meant, thanks to the scientific terms and theories mixed in haphazardly with the historical facts she wanted to study, but at least reading it gave her something to do. Even though she doubted she would be any help in the end, it was better than standing there and doing nothing.

Beside her, the Doctor snorted in amusement.

"What?" Evelyn asked dryly, looking up. Nothing about their current predicament seemed very humorous to her.

He shot her a look of pure innocence that she didn't believe for a second. "I didn't say anything, Evelyn."

"I know," Evelyn agreed, "and I'm quite certain that everyone else in this room is grateful. Now, I repeat, _what_?"

The Doctor sputtered for a moment, earning them both several concerned looks from several of the local scientists standing at nearby consoles. Then, looking for all the world like a little boy who was pouting, he flung his hands up in the air and started for the door - muttering all the way. The only word Evelyn could make out was "humans," but her imagination filled in the rest quite readily.

"Oh, for the love of..." She trailed off, shaking her head in fond amusement. "Doctor."

He ignored her.

Her amusement faded somewhat. "Doctor!" she repeated, raising her voice.

The Doctor stopped and started to turn back towards her, stopping with a jerk as he apparently remembered that he was supposed to be irritated with her. "Yes?" he asked.

She sighed, trying unsuccessfully to hold back a fond smile. "The doors are still locked from the outside."

"I'm well aware of that fact," the Doctor shot back, hesitating only a moment. He somehow managed to look both sheepish and affronted at the same time, and it was quite clear to Evelyn that the fact had completely slipped his mind.

"I'm quite certain that you are," Evelyn said gently. She quickly pushed down the part of her that wanted to keep teasing him; it wasn't an ideal situation for either of them, but she suspected that it was much more difficult for him than her. "Now, will you please tell me what was so amusing?"

Something flashed across his face so quickly that Evelyn almost thought she had imagined it. Though she wasn't certain what emotion it was, she knew that she had never seen that particular look on the Doctor's face before.

"It's nothing," the Doctor said airily, waving his hand in the air. "I was thinking about a similar situation we were in, oh, a lifetime ago." He paused. "Well, three, actually."

Evelyn smiled. _We_, he had said. She glanced back toward the dark-haired man on the other side of the room, who was still studying his console. Unlike the local scientists, he didn't seem to be even remotely perturbed by either her or the Doctor. "I'm assuming by 'we,' you're referring to you and the Master?"

The Doctor followed her gaze. "Yes, actually," he replied, his voice sounding somewhat distracted to her ears. "Though I suppose it hasn't happened for him yet. He's still so young. I expect he has years to go before he discovers my exile on Earth."

"Exile?" Evelyn repeated, raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor glanced back at her, already shaking his head. "It's quite a long story, Evelyn. You wouldn't be interested."

She bit back a sharp retort and instead made a show of glancing back toward the Master. "I'm not so certain," she said slowly. "Your friend is rather handsome."

The Doctor started sputtering again, this time broadly waving his hands as well. He looked almost as if he was on the verge of becoming apoplectic. All of the nearby scientists hurriedly moved away from their consoles, putting some distance between them and what Evelyn knew they must see as an insane alien visitor. On the other side of the room, the Master glanced their way for a moment before shaking his head and apparently deciding they weren't worth his attention.

"Doctor," Evelyn said, raising her voice. "I was joking."

He stopped talking immediately, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly for a moment. Then he sighed, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "I'm not certain 'friend' is the correct word to use. If the Rygellian magistrate hadn't decided we might be able to help find a cure for the plague sweeping this planet, I wouldn't even consider working with the Master."

"But the magistrate did make that decision," Evelyn pointed out lightly, "and thanks to him rounding up anyone he thought might be helpful, we're locked in this lab. As is the Master, I might add. Would it be better if I simply thought of him as the enemy of my enemy?"

The Doctor frowned at her. "No," he said, "not at this point in his timeline, at least. Misguided, yes, but an enemy? Not yet."

With a tired sigh, Evelyn hooked her arm in the Doctor's. "We can worry about semantics later," she said. "For the time being, let's simply focus on getting out of this room. Preferably after finding a cure for the disease that the magistrate turned loose on his people."

It took a few seconds for the Doctor to realize what she had just said. He turned his head toward her so quickly that she actually heard his neck pop slightly. "Wait, what?"

"Why do you think that the magistrate locked up anyone who might possibly be able to discover a cure? He's the one who released the disease in the first place. The Master deduced that much over two hours ago, which you would have known if you hadn't been completely ignoring him." Evelyn smiled, tightening her grip on his arm. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, we have a planet to save."

The Doctor hesitated for a moment before throwing back his head and laughing, letting her pull him forward. "Yes, I suppose we do."

"And then, Doctor," Evelyn added mischievously, "I want to hear more about this exile of yours."


End file.
